. It was all very well to cross spears
with Beatrice, who had quite an equal wit, and was very capable of
retaliation, but to see her surrender at discretion was altogether
another thing. Indeed he felt much ashamed of himself.

"Please don't--don't--be put out," he said. He did not like to use the
word "cry." "I was only laughing at you, but I ought not to have spoken
as I did. I did not wish to force your confidence, indeed I did not. I
never thought of such a thing. I am so sorry."

His remorse was evidently genuine, and Beatrice felt somewhat appeased.
Perhaps it did not altogether grieve her to learn that she could make
him feel sorry.

"You did not force my confidence," she said defiantly, quite forgetting
that a moment before she had reproached him for making her speak.
"I told you because I did not choose that you should think I was not
speaking the truth--and now let us change the subject." She imposed no
reserve on him as to what she had revealed; she knew that there was no
necessity to do so. The secret would be between them--another dangerous
link.

Beatrice recovered her composure and they walked slowly on.

"Tell me, Mr. Bingham," she said presently, "how can a woman earn her
living--I mean a girl like myself without any special qualifications?
Some of them get on."

"Well," he answered, "that depends upon the girl. What sort of a living
do you mean? You are earning a living now, of a kind."

"Yes, but sometimes, if only I could manage it, I think that I should
like to get away from here, and take another line, something bigger. I
do not suppose that I ever shall, but I like to think of it sometimes."

"I only know of two things which a woman can turn to," he said, "the
stage and literature. Of course," he added hastily, "the first is out of
the question in your case."

"And so is the other, I am afraid," she answered shaking her head, "that
is if by literature you mean imaginative writing, and I suppose that
is the only way to get into notice. As I told you I lost my
imagination--well, to be frank, when I lost my faith. At one time I used
to have plenty, as I used to have plenty of faith, but the one went with
the other, I do not understand why."

"Don't you? I think I do. A mind without religious sentiment is like a
star without atmosphere, brighter than other stars but not so soft to
see. Religion, poetry, music, imagination, and even some of the
more exalted forms of passion, flourish in th